Mahira Khan opens up about battle with depression after Raees backlash

Web Desk

29th Aug, 2023. 07:35 pm
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Mahira Khan was diagnosed with manic depression.
She faced backlash from the public after starring in Raees.
The backlash triggered her anxiety and depression.

Mahira Khan, a Pakistani actor, has spoken about her experience with mental health struggles. She was diagnosed with manic depression by a psychiatrist, and she said that she learned to face her mental health challenges, especially after she starred in the Bollywood film Raees with Shah Rukh Khan and after pictures of her smoking with actor Ranbir Kapoor emerged online in 2017.

Mahira Khan also spoke about the 2016 Uri attack, which led to a ban on Pakistani actors working in Bollywood.

Mahira said, “I had finished the film (Raees) and everything was going fine and then suddenly this attack (Uri attack) happens. Politically everything gets messed. With India, it is always political. But the fact that it could get this messy! I was not scared, but I was threatened. Constant tweets, in fact, I would get calls, and very scary ones. The only thing I wanted was that ‘Okay fine I can’t go to India to promote it (Raees), but I hope it releases in my country because I knew people would rush to watch it as he (Shah Rukh Khan) is loved here (in Pakistan).”

In 2017, Mahira Khan’s film Raees was released, and the same year, she was caught in a smoking scandal with Ranbir Kapoor. She faced a lot of backlash from the public, which she called “unexpected.”

Mahira said, “That (backlash) brought out the anxiety and depression hidden inside me. That was a hard time for me. I felt attacked. The constant backlash… you are getting mean tweets, comments on their channels (Indian channels). That was a time my faith broke and I developed severe anxiety to the point that one day I had a panic attack and fainted. That’s the first time I went for therapy. But that didn’t work out, as I went to several therapists… that year was rough… I couldn’t sleep, my hands used to shake.”

Mahira Khan has been taking antidepressants for 6-7 years. She tried to stop taking them, but she felt worse and went into a dark place. This is the first time she has spoken publicly about her mental health struggles.

Mahira said she has been ‘in and out of hospitals trying to get help’. She also said that everyone has ups and downs, ‘bad times and happy times, but clinical depression is like any other mental illness or physical illness’.

Mahira Khan opens up about battle with depression after Raees backlash

Web Desk

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